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New Delhi: Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Monday (Dec 20) began an official five-day visit to India when he was accorded a ceremonial reception in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Abdullah's visit to India assumes significance as Kuala Lumpur hopes to bag a large chunk of construction contracts in Asia's fourth-largest economy. External Minister Affairs Minister K.Natwar Singh called on Abdullah later in the day. Abdullah, accompanied by a large business delegation, is also expected to push New Delhi to lower palm oil duties, officials and analysts said. "Expectation of a wider and more comprehensive bilateral relation. I seek to deepen and expand the bilateral relation between Malaysia and India," Abdullah told reporters in New Delhi. India is one of the largest importers of Malaysian palm oil. India, the world's biggest edible oils importer, is likely to increase purchases as it needs more supply to cover increased consumption and a delay in arrivals of domestic oil in the market, traders said. It imports 50 percent of its annual edible oil requirement of nearly nine million tonnes, the bulk of which is palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia. Abdullah is due to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian leaders, and hold talks with business chiefs to boost bilateral trade. The current trade balance is firmly in Malaysia's favour. New Delhi is expected to urge Malaysia to use its influence and help create an Asian free trade market with ASEAN countries by 2015, a trade official said. Malaysia assumes the chairmanship of the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) next year. Malaysian firms have bagged contracts worth more than $2 billion for road construction in India, including a role in an ambitious highway programme connecting the four corners of the vast South Asian country. In 1995, India passed a law to allow private participation in highway building. This led to a 540 billion rupee project to widen more than 13,000 km of highways from two to four lanes. India now plans to encourage private investment in the shipping and port sectors and help scrap old procedures that hinder growth in maritime-related areas as part of a 14-year-old economic reform programme. So far, 17 port projects costing 40.5 billion rupees have already been approved, while 19 more involving 34.8 billion rupees are under consideration or open for bids. Dec 20, 2004 Later,
Badawi visited the Infosys campus in Bangalore on Thursday and evinced
keen interest in furthering IT ties with India. Badawi, who is on a two
day visit to Karnataka, planted a sapling inside the Infosys campus. Infosys
CEO Nandan Nilekani said Badawi's was quite impressive during his stay
on the campus. "We found the PM very impressive because he came through
as a visionary and broad minded and he appreciated what Infosys has done.
He was talking on how in today's world knowledge is more important than
capital," said Nilekani. Badawi on his part sought greater cooperation
from Indian IT companies to invest in Malaysia. The chief mentor of Infosys
Narayanamurthy is also an advisor to the Malaysian government. |
